Monthly road crash statistics update – August 2017

The data presented here are provisional. Crash data as at 8th September 2017.

Twenty-nine people died on New Zealand roads in August. This is 2 fewer than August 2016 and is 5 more than the average August road toll for the last five years.

To the end of August this year, 253 people have died on New Zealand roads. This is 35 more than at the same time last year.

In the 12 months to the end of August 2017, 363 people died on our roads. This is 35 more than the 12 months to the end of August 2016.

During August, 20 of the deaths were car or van drivers, 4 were car or van passengers, 3 were motorcyclists and 2 were cyclists.

Seventeen of the 29 deaths were in open road crashes. Seventeen were in single vehicle crashes in which a driver lost control of the vehicle or ran off the road and 7 were in head-on collisions.

Five of the 29 deaths were in collisions involving a truck.

Of the 24 vehicle occupants who died, 12 were not restrained at the time of the crash.

Deaths and Police reported injuries by age, sex and type of road user

Deaths are for the 12 months to the end of August 2017. Reported injuries are for the 12 months to the end of March 2017.

Note: Preliminary fatal crash reports are submitted within 24 hours of a crash related death. Full injury crash reports are submitted only after the crash investigations are completed, so there is a lag in the reporting of injury crashes.

Road user type by sex

Sex

Drivers

Passengers

Motorcyclists

Pedestrians

Cyclists

Other

Total

Deaths

Injuries

Deaths

Injuries

Deaths

Injuries

Deaths

Injuries

Deaths

Injuries

Deaths

Injuries

Deaths

Injuries

Male

153

4005

46

1177

46

1036

23

460

11

540

2

43

281

7261

Female

41

3239

25

1671

1

215

14

383

1

170

0

22

82

5700

Total

194

7244

71

2848

47

1251

37

843

12

710

2

65

363

12961

%male

79%

55%

65%

41%

98%

83%

62%

55%

92%

76%

100%

66%

77%

56%

Road user type by age group

Age group

Drivers

Passengers

Motorcyclists

Pedestrians

Cyclists

Other

Total

Deaths

Injuries

Deaths

Injuries

Deaths

Injuries

Deaths

Injuries

Deaths

Injuries

Deaths

Injuries

Deaths

Injuries

Under-15

2

23

9

500

1

18

2

162

0

85

0

25

14

813

15-24

47

2008

29

1015

5

327

5

166

1

118

1

6

88

3640

25-34

35

1567

16

440

8

214

7

111

2

89

0

1

68

2422

35-44

24

1020

2

187

10

175

1

94

1

122

0

3

38

1601

45-54

22

961

7

209

11

283

8

78

3

131

0

4

51

1666

55-64

25

780

4

172

9

170

2

88

1

95

0

4

41

1309

65-74

17

460

3

128

3

43

3

60

4

39

1

2

31

732

75+

21

396

1

83

0

8

9

62

0

6

0

20

31

575

Unknown

1

29

0

114

0

13

0

22

0

25

0

0

1

203

Total

194

7244

71

2848

47

1251

37

843

12

710

2

65

363

12961

Trends

Since 1990 the number of vehicles on the road has increased by 78 percent while Police reported injuries have dropped by 22 percent, road deaths have dropped by 52 percent and the number of days spent in hospital as a result of road crashes has dropped by 54 percent.

Crash outcomes and road user behaviour

Road crash data

Deaths

2005

2006

2007

2008

2009

2010

2011

2012

2013

2014

2015

2016

2017

Number of road deaths

405

393

421

366

384

375

284

308

253

293

319

328

363

Deaths per 10,000 vehicles

1.3

1.3

1.3

1.1

1.2

1.2

0.88

0.95

0.77

0.86

0.91

0.90

0.95

Deaths per 100,000 people

9.9

9.5

10.0

8.6

8.9

8.6

6.4

6.9

5.7

6.5

6.9

7.0

7.6

Note: Road deaths for 2017 are for the 12 months to the end of August 2017.

Injuries

2005

2006

2007

2008

2009

2010

2011

2012

2013

2014

2015

2016

2017

Reported injuries

14456

15174

16013

15317

14625

14031

12574

12122

11781

11219

12270

12247

12961

Number hospitalised (all discharges)

7210

7680

7440

7570

7590

7360

6780

7070

7150

6940

7310

8010

8152

Number hospitalised for over 1 day

3198

3396

3404

3244

3042

2909

2707

2794

2886

2716

2902

3053

3075

Number hospitalised for over 3 days

2192

2251

2351

2210

2051

1918

1801

1872

1886

1752

1905

1992

2012

Note: Reported injuries for 2017 are for the 12 months to the end of March 2017.
Hospitalisations for 2017 are for the 12 months to the end of March 2017.

Behavioural measures

Speed

2005

2006

2007

2008

2009

2010

2011

2012

2013

2014

2015

2016

Rural speed, % over 100 km/h

36%

32%

29%

30%

29%

29%

31%

25%

25%

22%

23%

n/a

Rural speed, mean (km/h)

97.1

96.4

96.3

96.6

96.3

96.2

96.5

95.6

95.7

95.3

95.7

n/a

Rural speed, 85th percentile (km/h)

104

103

103

103

103

103

103

102

102

101

101

n/a

Alcohol

2005

2006

2007

2008

2009

2010

2011

2012

2013

2014

2015

2016

Number of drivers killed with excess alcohol

58

54

65

59

66

68

48

49

38

31

51

50

Percent of drivers killed with excess alcohol

25%

24%

27%

28%

28%

30%

26%

27%

23%

18%

25%

23%

Occupant Restraints

2005

2006

2007

2008

2009

2010

2011

2012

2013

2014

2015

2016

Seat belts worn by adults, front

95%

95%

95%

95%

95%

96%

96%

96%

n/a

97%

n/a

97%

Seat belts worn by adults, rear

86%

89%

87%

87%

87%

88%

90%

n/a

n/a

92%

n/a

n/a

Child restraints used, 0-4 years

89%

91%

91%

90%

91%

93%

n/a

92%

n/a

93%

n/a

93%

Cycle helmets

2005

2006

2007

2008

2009

2010

2011

2012

2013

2014

2015

2016

Cycle helmets worn, weekday

91%

94%

92%

92%

92%

93%

93%

92%

n/a

n/a

94%

n/a

Factors contributing to crashes – ranked by social cost*

Notes:

Crash data for the 12 months to the end of March 2017.
Since there can be several contributing factors for a single crash the figures represented in this graph add to more than 100%.

Alcohol data is not comparable to earlier years due to changes in the crash reporting process.

* Social cost calculations include loss of life or life quality, loss of output due to injuries, medical and rehabilitation costs, legal and court costs and property damage.